THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING I. INTRODUCTION. “Kindness and compassion towards all living things is a mark of a civilized society. Conversely, cruelty, whether it is directed against human beings or against animals, is not the exclusive province of any one culture or community of people.” —César Chávez1 At first glance, many people are not quite sure what the creature is. A mass of scales, long tail, short nose, and claws; it looks like a hybrid between an armadillo, anteater, and dinosaur. It is a pangolin, a one-to-three foot animal native to Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.2 There are eight known species, with many strange adaptations—ranging from a skunk-like spray to deter predators, to tongue longer than their body, used to snack on insects.3 Despite their rather fantastic appearance, pangolins are mammals, and very valuable ones at that.4 The pangolin is the most trafficked mammal on the planet.5 1 CÉSAR CHAVEZ, LETTER TO ERIC MILLS (1990). 2 What is a Pangolin?, SAVE PANGOLINS (last accessed Mar. 4, 2018), http://savepangolins.org/what-is-a-pangolin/. 3 Id. 4 Id. 5 Sarah Heinrich et al., Where Did All the Pangolins Go? International CITES Trade in Pangolin Species, 8 GLOBAL ECOLOGY & CONSERVATION 241, 242 (2016); Nearly 6,000 Pangolins in Illegal Wildlife Trade in India Since 2009, TRAFFIC: THE WILDLIFE TRADE MONITORING NETWORK (Feb. 16, 2018), http://www.traffic.org/home/2018/2/16/nearly-6000-pangolins-in- illegal-wildlife-trade-in-india-sin.html (noting that even in 2018, the pangolin is still the most trafficked animal in the world). 1 THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING The International Union for Conservation of Nature (“IUCN”) estimates that between 2004 and 2014, over one million pangolins were trafficked.6 Pangolin scales have been used in traditional Chinese medicine for hundreds of years with the belief that they treat a variety ailments, from possession by devils and ogres, to malaria and deafness.7 Its meat is considered a delicacy in Vietnam and China served in various forms; sometimes entire animals are placed in jars of rice wine to function as a ghastly beverage flavoring.8 6 Eating Pangolins to Extinction, INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE (Jul. 29, 2014), https://www.iucn.org/content/eating-pangolins-extinction. 7 Chinese Medicine and the Pangolin, 141 NATURE 72 (1938); see also Martin Fletcher, Pangolins: Why This Cute Prehistoric Mammal is Facing Extinction, THE TELEGRAPH (Jan. 31, 2015), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute- prehistoric-mammal-is-facing-extinction.html (explaining that pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same substance as human hair and fingernails, and thus have utterly no medicinal value). 8 Eating Pangolins to Extinction, INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE (Jul. 29, 2014), https://www.iucn.org/content/eating-pangolins-extinction; Martin Fletcher, Pangolins: Why This Cute Prehistoric Mammal is Facing Extinction, THE TELEGRAPH (Jan. 31, 2015), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11370277/Pangolins-why-this-cute-prehistoric- mammal-is-facing-extinction.html (providing a disturbing account of a restaurant employee who exclaimed he could acquire a live pangolin for $250 per kilogram and promised to slit its throat in front of the patrons). 2 THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING These practices are disturbing, yet they raise the question: why should this largely unknown little animal’s plight matter? The crashing pangolin population shows that the laws against trafficking currently in place are simply not working.9 Research by the Environmental Investigation Agency found a substantial growth in the demand for pangolins which is leading to decimation of their populations.10 The trafficking of pangolins is representative of a massive international crime syndicate based on the abuse and death of wild animals, from parrots to tigers, valued globally at US $20 billion.11 9 See, e.g., Manis Pentadactyla (Chinese Pangolin), INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE (last accessed Mar. 9, 2018), http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12764/0 (displaying results from a 2014 Chinese pangolin population assessment that predicts continuing population declines of over 90% in the next two decades); Sahana Ghosh, “Alarming” Levels of Pangolin Poaching in India Point to Need for a Systematic Study on the Species, SCROLL (Mar. 07, 2018), https://scroll.in/article/870574/alarming-levels-of-pangolin-poaching-in-india-point-to-need-for- a-systematic-study-on-the-species (noting that pangolin populations are believed to be crashing due to the extent of poaching and that there are no comprehensive studies on their populations in India); 10 Illegal Trade Seizures: Pangolins, ENVIRONMENTAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY (last accessed Mar. 7, 2018), https://eia-international.org/illegal-trade-seizures-pangolins (illustrating the growth over the last eight years). 11 Daniel W.S. Challender & Douglas C. MacMillan, Poaching is More Than an Enforcement Problem, 7 CONSERVATION LETTERS 484 (2014). 3 THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING The trafficking of animals and animal products has surged in recent years.12 In the U.S., there were nearly 50,000 illegal shipments of wildlife and wildlife products seized between 2005 and 2014, consisting of 55,000 live animals and three million pounds of animal products.13 The climate of international law implicitly rejects the inherent or moral value of animals in and of themselves;14 however, the instrumental value of animals reaches far beyond their mere worth in currency.15 Treatment of animals as mere commodities to be bought and traded results in cruel behavior by humans.16 Allowing 12 Bradley Anderson & Johan Jooste, Wildlife Poaching: Africa’s Surging Trafficking Threat, AFRICA SECURITY BRIEF (May 2014), available at https://africacenter.org/wp- content/uploads/2016/06/ASB28EN-Wildlife-Poaching-Africa%E2%80%99s-Surging- Trafficking-Threat.pdf; The E.U. Approach to Combat Wildlife Trafficking, EUROPEAN COMMISSION (Mar. 3, 2017), http://ec.europa.eu/environment/cites/trafficking_en.htm. 13 Tina Deines, Illegal Wildlife Trade Booming Across U.S.-Mexico Border, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (Mar. 14, 2017), https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/03/wildlife-watch- wildlife-trafficking-reptiles-mexico-united-states/. 14 TERO KIVINEN, THE ETHICS OF INTERNATIONAL ANIMAL LAW (Master’s Thesis, University of Helsinki 2014) (on file with author of this piece). 15 See ABIGAIL PERDUE & RANDALL LOCKWOOD, ANIMAL CRUELTY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE 74 (2014) (finding that serious crimes against humans, such as drug trafficking, gambling, and gang violence are often intertwined with animal cruelty). 16 See ABIGAIL PERDUE & RANDALL LOCKWOOD, ANIMAL CRUELTY AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE 74, 178 (2014) (discussing research that found violence against humans 4 THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING animal-related crimes to go unpunished creates an environment that supports further crimes against both animals and people.17 Although East Asian countries, such as China and Vietnam, are the world’s largest consumers of pangolins and pangolin products,18 the U.S. plays a significant role in the trafficking process. The U.S. is currently the second to China as the largest market for trafficked animals in the world.19 The U.S. has a strong presence as a hub for trafficked is intertwined with animal cruelty and further data that suggests that exposure to violence can result in increased aggressive behavior, especially in juveniles). 17 Id. 18 NGUYEN DAO NGOC VAN & NGUYEN XUÂN DANG, The Pangolin Trade in Vietnam, PROCEEDINGS OF THE WORKSHOP ON TRADE & CONSERVATION OF PANGOLINS NATIVE TO SOUTH & SOUTHEAST ASIA 164 (2009); Alexandra Andersson, China’s Appetite for Pangolin is Threatening the Creature’s Existence, TIME (Jun. 12, 2014), http://time.com/2846889/pangolins-china-cites-trafficking-endangered/; see also Wildlife Crime: Pangolin Trade Still Flourishing Despite Ban, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME (Feb. 15, 2018), https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/wildlife-crime-pangolin- trade-still-flourishing-despite-ban (finding that demand for pangolins have increased along China’s growth in population and wealth). 19 Kristina Davis & Joshua Emerson Smith, Teen Sentenced to Six Months in Prison for Smuggling Border Tiger, SANDIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE (Feb. 20, 2018), http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/courts/sd-me-tiger-sentence-20180220-story.html. 5 THE PERVERTED ARK: FAILURES, SUCCESSES, AND SOLUTIONS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S RAREST CREATURES FROM INTERNATIONAL TRAFFICKING wildlife.20 Despite the severity and significance of such crimes, traffickers can receive a sentence as low as 6 months due to apathy towards the crime by judges.21 The U.S. can serve as an example for other nations by creating stricter laws with more comprehensive punishments to create a stronger deterrent effect. Until laws are more consistently enforced across all nations, INTERPOL should continue to work alongside the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife